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An opera, reimagined

Industry

Public Sector

Culture

Services

Digital Brand Experience

UX / UI / Motion Design

Responsive mobile first website

Headless Architecture / Microservices

WCAG 2.1 AA Accessibility

Digital Asset Management

Umbraco CMS

Open for everyone, accessible for all. The GöteborgsOperan wants everyone to feel welcome at their shows and on their website. That required shifting from an outdated digital presence to one focused on delivering a diverse yet accessible and inclusive experience.

Not only does the new site follow WCAG 2.1 AA standards for accessibility, but it is also designed to appeal to a broad audience, from first-time visitors to long-time fans.

An illustrative photo from a show production, showing the profile of a dancer with her arms outstretched and her back arched
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The upper half of a phone showing an image from a Göteborgsoperan show
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The lower end of a phone showing images and information in the new Göteborgsoperan design.
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Diverse but united design

Our diverse team of strategists, designers and developers took a holistic approach and delivered value based on two key accessibility-related factors:

1) A site that’s accessible to everyone

2) A design that makes the shows themselves appealing and accessible to everyone. To appeal to a wider and younger audience we focused on the experience of the show, rather than name-dropping long-dead composers.

Whether a visitor is browsing shows or purchasing tickets, design and content is aimed at not only telling a story but guiding users to complete tasks. There’s also a meaningful thought behind the structure of the show pages. The introduction aims to appeal to newcomers and seasoned opera-goers, while the detailed information for the more engaged hardcore fans is a few folds down.

The variety and uniqueness of the opera’s shows was something we wanted to mirror in the design of the site. The user-friendly Umbraco CMS allows editors to easily set-up show pages with their own creative expression, based on the same templates and blocks to ensure a consistent user experience.

A screenshot of the new interface of the Göteborgsoperan website.
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A phone showing an example of a Göteborgsoperan show, with a dancer arching their back
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The Göteborgsoperan website shown on a laptop, with an overview of available shows.
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A great result for all

Opera is often seen as a snobbish activity for upper class older folks. GöteborgsOperan and Knowit Experience wanted to show that what goes on in the opera house is for everyone!

And well, here we are - Opera.se is now live and an accessible and award winning experience.

Parts of a phone showing an image from Göteborgsoperan along with a bread crumb top trail.
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Parts of a phone showing an image from Göteborgsoperan along with a bread crumb top trail.
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The Göteborgsoperan website shown on a laptop, showing information on a specific show. Image of an astronaut.
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Award winning

In 2021 opera.se was awarderd "Best Designed Site" in the global Umbraco Awards Competition with the motivation:

"Well designed and easy to navigate. Excellent visual design to showcase performances and exhibits. We love the UX on this site as it simply does what it should do; excite and engage.''

opera.se also got recognition in Funka Accessibility Awards for best accessible website, where the site scored at the very top, with zero (0) remarks for accessibility!


opera.se also won the category "Best Commercial Website" in the Swedish Web Service Award. An award that lets the actual users rate their experience when using the website.

The Göteborgsoperan website shown on a laptop, with the image of a 1920's style woman with blonde hair.
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A phone and a tablet showing the same Göteborgsoperan website with an overview of their shows.
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An illustrative photo from a show production, showing a crowd of people dressed in whites and browns, playing and dancing in sand
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A phone and a tablet showing the same Göteborgsoperan website with information on the season.
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An illustrative photo from a show production, showing three people painted white, intertwined as if dancing.
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CompetitionCategoryTypeYear
  • Web Service AwardCommercialWinner2023
  • Funka Accessibility AwardsAccessibilityWinner2022
  • Umbraco AwardsBest Designed SiteWinner2021